Abstract— Open social space is a physical space such as social center, sports club, parks or other gathering places where people gather and interact.
The aim of the research is to suggest design alternatives to deal with the negative impacts of social distancing to fulfil users' needs to perform their social activities in open social spaces during the spread of infectious viruses such as COVID-19.
The research methodology was relied on an inductive approach to acknowledge the different levels of social spaces between individuals and the real reasons why applying social distancing is difficult to verify inside social open spaces to meet individuals' needs to perform social activities. An analytical method was also applied in the study of open social space within the Smash Sports Academy to monitor the effects of implementing social distancing in the design of open social spaces.
Finally, the conclusion reached a set of results, including the cultural and economic level of individuals practicing activities inside open social spaces is correlated to their level of perception to the importance of social distancing on public health. Nevertheless, the social heritage of societies remains a key factor in the extent to which individuals perceive spaces and the manner of carrying out activities within them.
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